greening biz operations

New business coalition plans to flex its muscle on climate policy

Nike, Starbucks, eBay, and a handful of other big-name U.S. companies are putting forward a climate agenda that’s just as ambitious as that of many environmentalists, if not more so. The new coalition — Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy, or BICEP for short — grew out of a partnership between Nike and Ceres, […]

Electronics industry takes own temperature at Greener Gadgets

Hm. Where are all the gadgets at the Greener Gadgets conference, a one-day acronym festival -- EPEAT, ROHS, LCA, anyone? -- covering topics from e-waste recycling to the economic benefits of going green. I was expecting to see cell phones crafted of discarded water bottles or a smog-powered BlackBerry. At least they've got the photovoltaic backpacks.

Mostly, the exhibitors' hall and panels include an odd amalgam of entrepreneurs and industry analysts, makers and regulators, who are far less focused on the gadget itself than on where it comes from and where it goes on its cradle-to-cradle journey through the world. "We need to focus on the system, and not just on the gadget," said Intel's Director of Environment and Energy Policy Stephen Harper.

They're just as focused on where the gadget goes to die, an integral part of said system. As keynote speaker Saul Griffith, co-founder of Squid Labs and Makani Power, told us, "There's no 'away' to throw something anymore -- we know where everything goes."

Major media outlet officially over eco-trend

CNN -- or some overworked and over-it headline writer at CNN -- calls it: "Cisco Goes -- What Else? -- Green." Seriously, Cisco -- that's so 2008.

Musings from an L.A. green-biz conference

This article is part of a collaboration with Planetizen, the web’s leading resource for the urban planning, design, and development community. <p>The green marketplace is the marketplace of the future. From Wal-Mart to Toyota to the neighborhood dry cleaner, it seems like every business is going out of its way to tell us how green […]

Goodbye to the clamshell?

I rarely buy be-clamshelled merchandise any more, but I remember it with horror, so this seems like excellent news:

If the automakers won’t, the city leaders will

Introducing the Detroit Office of Energy and Sustainability. Who woulda thunk it?

Umbra on greening the office

Dear Umbra, The Powers That Be at my job have decided to start a Green Initiative. The project got put on the desk of the office manager, who doesn’t know where to start. I signed up to be a part of the committee, and I was wondering if you had any advice about how to […]

How to green your office holiday party

  Who brought the lampshade?   They say it’s a “no-frills holiday season” this year — with the economy hitting the skids, many companies are putting the brakes on lavish holiday-party spending, and some are nixing their parties altogether. But just because you have to cancel the fireworks show doesn’t mean you can’t have a […]

Northwest bookstore goes solar, gets compared to candy

Photo: Thomas Hawk Hearing the news that Oregon darling Powell’s Books is getting a crapload of solar panels is akin to learning that Santa recycles or Mother Teresa loved to compost. Yep, Powell’s — especially the block-long location in downtown Portland with color-coded rooms — is that beloved. Construction has already started on a 100-kilowatt […]